The present invention relates to firearms and, more specifically, to a convertible muzzle brake.
When a firearm is fired, the explosion within the chamber of the weapon creates essentially two forces. Obviously, the discharge creates a forward force propelling a projectile forward from the firearm. However, an equal and opposite force is directed against the firearm. This rearward force travels through the firearm and is applied against the shoulder of the firearm user. This rearward energy transfer is known as recoil.
Recoil is a substantial concern for shooters of relatively high-powered rifles and of shotguns. This concern is becoming more intense as firearm designers devise lighter weight firearms utilizing more powerful loads. The recoil encountered by discharging such high-powered firearms creates several problems for the shooter.
First, the recoil produced by discharging a large bore firearm can be very unpleasant, if not painful and injurious, to the user. Depending upon the caliber and powder load of a particular round, the rearwardly directed energy from a large bore firearm can bruise the shoulder of the shooter. Consequently, the discomfort associated with the recoil "kick" deters some shooters from using certain calibers and loads.
Second, since the recoil vector is usually directed above the vertical mid-line of the stock of a firearm, recoil often results in an upward jump of the firearm's muzzle. As the muzzle jumps, the target is at least partially occluded by the barrel, causing the shooter to lose sight of the target. This muzzle jump requires that the firearm be realigned after each discharge, causing a distraction and in interruption of concentration. Thus, recoil also interferes with shooting accuracy.
Third, as a proximate result of the unpleasantness associated with recoil, a shooter who has experienced substantial recoil will often manifest a flinching reflex immediately prior to discharging the firearm. When the user flinches, the firearm will move off target just as the user pulls the trigger. This flinching reflex acts to further reduce accuracy even when the shooter discharges single rounds. The reduction in accuracy from flinching is yet more pronounced during repetitive firing of the firearm.
Those skilled in the art of ballistics and firearm design have made attempts to alleviate the problems associated with recoil. It has been found that an effective means to reduce the problems associated with recoil is to reduce the recoil energy itself. A device commonly used for this purpose is a muzzle brake.
A muzzle brake is a device consisting of one or more sets of baffles or lateral portals located at the muzzle end of a firearm barrel. A muzzle brake reduces recoil force and also reduces obscuration of the target resulting from muzzle jump. After the projectile exits the muzzle following discharge of the firearm, some of the powder gases are decelerated and deflected by the muzzle brake to the sides and rear of the gun. The reaction to the change of direction of the escaping gases exerts a forward pulling force on the muzzle brake and, in turn, on the firearm. This reduces the rearwardly directed force component which causes the recoil. In effect, the muzzle brake harnesses the cause of recoil and converts it into a partial cure. The result is greater barrel stability, improved accuracy, and a shorter length of recoil.
Presently available muzzle brakes have an undesirable side effect. Though the laterally directed baffles on the muzzle brake reduce recoil, they also increase the objectionable sound of the discharge in the area immediately surrounding the firearm. The result is a substantial increase in muzzle blast. This increase makes discharging a firearm equipped with a muzzle brake unpleasant for both the firearm user and for persons in the near vicinity.
Ironically, though a muzzle brake reduces the flinch reflex associated with recoil, it gives rise to a similar flinch reflex in anticipation of the increased muzzle blast. As a result, even if the shooter gains increased accuracy by reducing recoil, the shooter may encounter a corresponding decrease in accuracy resulting from muzzle blast flinch.
Firearm users often use hearing protectors while discharging a muzzle brake equipped firearm at a practice range only to later remove the muzzle brake for actual hunting in the field where the hunter and his fellow hunters may not have such protectors. This practice actually negates any accuracy advantage achieved by using the brake. Muzzle brakes are of significant weight and are placed at the outer end of the barrel. They greatly affect the mass profile of the firearm. Consequently, muzzle brake removal will cause substantial deviation in barrel performance upon aiming and discharge. Therefore, though a firearm sighted with a muzzle brake may prove reasonably accurate, the same firearm may not be fired as accurately when the muzzle brake has been removed.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a muzzle brake designed to effectively reduce recoil while at the same time allowing for a high degree of accuracy.
Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a muzzle brake which may be functionally engaged and disengaged as may be derived without the necessity for removal of the muzzle brake from the firearm.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a muzzle brake which is suitable for a plurality of shooting situations and is capable of meeting a variety of shooting demands with little physical manipulation by the firearm user.
The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out in connection with the detailed description of the accompanying drawings.